Why Ulcers Develop in Horses

Occurring in over 50 percent of horses, gastric ulcers can affect horses at any age, but especially foals, Thoroughbreds and endurance horses. Foals are susceptible to ulcers because they secrete high amounts of acidic gastric fluid within days of being born. While milk offers protection against ulcers, recumbency tends to increase exposure of the foal's stomach to gastric acid. In adult horses, vigorous exercise promotes stomach acid production while decreasing blood flow to the equine GI tract. Additionally, when horses are active, gastric acid may splash onto the vulnerable, upper part of their stomachs.

Ulcers bother horses frequently because they have more petite stomachs than most animals their size and cannot properly digest large amounts of food at one time. Instead, equine physiology is designed to consume a dozen or so high-roughage meals throughout the day. “Nibbling” helps continuously neutralize the high acidity of their stomach fluids so the risk of ulcer development is reduced.

Equine experts consider ulcers in horses a “manmade” disorder since we “manage” their diet by feeding them twice a day. Micromanaging a horse's diet means we are subjecting their stomachs to extended periods without the roughage necessary to neutralize gastric acid. Moreover, a high-grain diet does create volatile fatty acids that may encourage ulcer development.

Other risk factors for horses developing ulcers include environmental, transportation or confinement stress, isolation from other horses and giving horses anti-inflammatory medications such as NSAIDS.

Horse Stomach Ulcer Treatment

An all-natural supplement that provides nutrients that aid digestion of feed, supports optimal health of the equine GI tract and helps to stop stomach acid from creating painful ulcers. Kauffman’s® Digestive Health supplement for horses may help prevent Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome by enriching your horse's diet with beneficial ingredients such as fenugreek seed (a good source of mucilage and galactomannan), probiotics and forage products that can help protect the cells lining a horse's digestive tract.

Kauffman’s® Animal Health, Inc. has been providing all-natural nutritional supplements to customers for over 30 years. To learn more about our nationally recognized line of premium products, visit www.ka-hi.com or call 800-332-KAHI.

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Customer Reviews

Review by Kim M.

Overall Rating

Digestive Health Formula is a miracle! I tried it for my horse who occasionally had unexplained chronic issues with soft manure and then suffered from sudden colitis. He recovered after 2 weeks in the hospital but continued to have chronic diarrhea for 8 months. I tried everything, including gastroguard, Biosponge, probiotics, Smartgut, and other products the vets recommended and those I tried on my own. Nothing made a difference. Within ONE DOSE of Digestive Health Formula my horse’s manure started to look more normal and within days his manure continued to improve, within weeks it is 90% better. It is magic. Thank you Kauffman’s, I’m sure he feels a LOT better!

Kim M(Posted on 10/11/2013)

Review by Barb

Overall Rating

I have a barrel horse that started showing signs of ulcers. I started her on this product and within one month all her ulcer sigsn were gone. Her attitude improved and she is running better than ever. Compared to other ulcer treatments this product is super affprdable and it works. (Posted on 5/31/2012)

Review by Micky

Overall Rating

This product did wonders for a 3 year old standardbred colt I recently claimed. He came to me severly under weight with a dull hair coat and little appetite. Within 3 days of using the Digestive Health paste he was finishing all his grain and his attitude was improving. After 1 month of being on the paste he looked like a new horse. He filled out, has a beautiful coat and is winning races. It is less expensive than Succeed or Gastrogaurd and I got the results I was looking for. I will be sure to use this on all my horses who show signs of ulcers. (Posted on 5/31/2012)